Mark 1 Lancer Assault Rifle
The Mark 1 Lancer Assault Rifle, dubbed the 'Retro Lancer'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4LmtyMabao pause at 1:18 during the Lambent Pandemic, was the predecessor to the Mk 2 Lancer Assault Rifle. When the Locust Invasion began, the Mk 1 Lancer had long since been replaced by the Mk 2 as the COG's standard issue rifle, and was a rare sight on the battlefield. However, following the Sinking of Jacinto, when supplies started to become scarce, the Retro Lancer started cropping up in the hands of fighting forces once again. They have even been used by the Savage Drones both as primary weapons, as well as serving as the platform for their Multi-Turrets. History The original Lancer assault rifle was utilized as the standard-issue assault rifle by Coalition of Ordered Governments forces, introduced in the later years of the Pendulum Wars. Known for its reliability, the rifle was an extremely powerful weapon, able to stop a truck, as Baird says, or even bring down a UIR Khimera attack Helicopter Gears of War: Aspho Fields , but it had a furious recoil. The Mk 1 Lancer was used by COG armed forces even past Emergence Day. However, a year following Emergence Day, COG soldiers found the Lancer that served them faithfully for so many years was now obsolete against the Locust Horde. The tough skin of the Locust often deflected the bayonet, or even caused it to snap off. A Gear can kill a Locust with the Lancer, with a running charge to produce momentum and lifting the victim up after the charge to get the knife to penetrate through its skin. Unfortunatly, the Locusts' preference for close-quarters combat magnified the problem. with the weapon.]] The ineffective knife bayonet combined with the Lancer's low rate of fire and massive recoil led to the need to redesign the Lancer assault rifle. Inspired by COG Gear Tai Kaliso improvised use of a chainsaw to kill a Locust soldier, Marcus Michael Fenix discussed the idea with his father, Professor Adam Jonathon Fenix. Soon after, the Lancer Mark 2 was developed, incorperating more accurate fire, less recoil, a reticle sight and a chainsaw bayonet; the new Lancer largely replaced its predecessor by the Locust War's second year. Fifteen years later, after the Sinking of Jacinto, the original Lancer re-surfaced. Savage Locust also began scavenging any resource available, including Retro Lancer, which became a staple weapon among their more common warriors while others became the Savage Locust's improvised turrets. Savage Drones were exclusively armed with Retro Lancers. It also went back into the hands of Gears a few times. Now dubbed the "Retro Lancer", it also became a popular weapon among the Stranded gangs as a defensive weapon, and used to make traps. Attachments The most crucial and perhaps the only needed, attachment to the Retro Lancer was the blade-bayonet. As the predecessor to the Chainsaw Bayonet, the blade-bayonet was significantly weaker in comparison to its counterpart's motorized chainsaw but with enough brute force behind a charge, a Retro Lancer user could easily kill an opponent.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PViH3xQFCxY 6:40-6:55 Another attachment was known as the "Gut-Puncher" grenade launcher, which was used to fire individual grenades at a variable distance. The most notable usage of this attachment was during the Battle of Aspho Fields. Various focal length tactical scopes could also be mounted on the sight rails of the weapon, as used in the battle of Aspho Fields. Behind the Scenes *Cliff commented that he brought the original Lancer into Gears of War 3 because of popular demand. *At certain Gamestops, it was possible to buy a scale version of the Retro Lancer for about $99.99 (U.S. price). The golden variant was sold in the U.K. *In Gears of War 2, the Retro Lancer made a cameo appearance during the opening cutscene of the game. In the scene where Queen Myrrah summarizes the last one-hundred years on Sera, Pendulum War soldiers using Retro Lancers appeared. *The Retro Lancer's Bayonet Charge is the only instant kill move in the game other then the original Lancer's chainsaw. *In Gears of War 3 Beta, players could unlock a golden weapon skin for the Retro Lancer after playing ninety matches. Killing 100 enemies in the Beta with it would unlock it in the full game. *In Gears of War 3, the Retro Lancer is cosmetically different than the one shown in the forth image above. It sports a different knife bayonet, being more straight and clean rather than jagged and dirty, and has a slit running down the top of the knife. The generic shape of the weapon has also been refined more, being a more curved design than earlier iterations of the weapon. The barrel is also quite short in game to make it more suitable towards bayonet charges (a longer barrel as seen above could potentially get stuck inside an opponent, making it more difficult to remove after impaling someone). The back of the gun also features new detailing including worn caution striping as opposed to the metal bars sticking out on the above images. The original Retro Lancer however can still be seen in game as part of the traps used by 'Ashman' in Char and by the NPC Stranded characters in Griffin's Stranded Camp. The old design is also present on the 'weapon shelves' seen throughout the campaign, although picking one up changes it into a standard one. *It is one of the few weapons that could be fitted into the Savage Locust's Multi-Turret, along with the Boomshot Grenade Launcher and the Gnasher shotgun. *Beware when attempting to "Retro-charge" an opponent whether you are in front or behind as the war cry that your character gives out when charging may alert your target, giving them time to maneuver out of the way. *Fire this weapon in short controlled bursts of about 2 to 3 rounds to maintain accuracy and full damage to the target. References Category:Gears of War 3 weapons